The John Deere 165 lawn mower is a garden tractor that was built by JD over a period of 2 years from 1986 until 1988. All production of this model took place in JD’s plant in Horicon, Wisconsin. Most people don’t see the JD 165 as a particularly powerful ride on lawnmower due to the fact that it’s engine only produces 12.5 hp. This engine is a Kawasaki FB460V gasoline engine with natural aspiration. The displacement of the engine comes to 0.46 liters and it is air cooled. You will need to make sure that the engine always has 1.8 liters of engine oil to prevent excessive wear on the engine parts.

The transmission used on the John Deere 165 is a hydrostatic one. This makes operating it relatively easy as it gives the machine infinite gears going forward and the same in reverse. In other words, the JD 165 is an automatic. As this John Deere mower is 20+ years old, most people haven’t heard much about it before. However like so many JD lawnmowers and tractors, there is a large restoration community out there that fixes up and fully restores old mowers like this one.

If you are someone who owns a John Deere 165 or has restored one, please feel free to leave a review on it below. If possible try to list the things that were giving you the most hassle during the restoration of it. It will also be informative to the readers to let them know about the modifications you have made if any. Please also try to list any attachments such as snow blowers, snow blades, front blades, scrapers, etc, that you have used with the JD 165.

Very pleased for general use, wish I had the 185, as added hp would be good.

Year of Manufacture: 1986

Pros: I purchased new and been very pleased. Engine starts well, mows well and leaf collected work well- when leaves reasonibly dry. Parts still available and Bader Service (Linwood, MI) does prompt reasonable service.

Pros: Only just bought mine love em I’m a contract gardener .but really got a thing for John deeres this one won on eBay last week just picked up today one owner . I’ve 4 John deeres two , lx176 s and a lx178 going to do them up . The 165 is the oldest in my fleet and all she needs is a deck drive belt and a starter motor the hope she is up and running love em well impressed with the hood the Lxs hoods very weak . Can’t wait to use her

Cons: I’ve no pros and cons because haven’t used her yet but I’m sure as all j ds they are good I’ve become a collector I’m going to look around for a lx188 and a lx 279 just the jd bug has me now as I love grass cutting as used to cut the verges on Rushmoor council loved it and used John deeres cut miles miles of grass if I won the lottery it wouldn’t be a Porsche a John Deere x905

Just got it back from John Deere for blade sharpening and lube. Worked great first time I mowed. Just tried to mow again and will not move in any gear. How do I fill the transmission fluid or change? I hope I did not get the Deere Antlers while they had my mower!!!

Impressed with the overall reliability and availability of parts. Nice tight turning radius. Kawasaki engine is great!! Nothing runs like a Deere

Year of Manufacture: 1986

Pros: This has been a very reliable lawnmower that has served in pseudo-commercial duty for most of its 25 years. I calculated that it has mowed roughly 2500 lawns over the years, as my two sons mowed ours and several neighbors’ lawns while they were in school.
The Kawasaki has been bulletproof in that it just keeps on running in spite of being completely neglected. I added the spin-on oil filter accessory and I think that may be what has kept it going with few and far between oil changes.

Cons: The mower deck needs some bearings replaced every year. This has been the weak point for this mower, but I guess it’s typical of any mower deck.
Also, I had big problems with the starting circuit. The engine would turn over very slowly or not at all, making starting difficult for many years, until I found that JD had a retrofit kit to add a relay that assisted the start circuit.
And last, but most significant at this point, the hydro transmission will not pull when it gets hot. It will drive for about 20 minutes, then is gradually gets weaker until it won’t move until you shut it off and let it cool. I still don’t have a solution for this issue, but I’m working on it. If any readers have experience here and know what it takes to fix it, I’m all ears.

Look at the spec’s on conventional and synthetic oil and you’ll see a huge difference in all aspects but the flash point and the sheer protection as heat builds is also a great deal better than conventional oils. I’m an Amsoil guy and use it in everything. My wife’s car’s transmission went agly nearly 3 years ago. I changed the filter and changed to Amsoil synthetic. It’s running still….correctly and the leak stopped, another big plus for synthetics, keeping seals like new.

I drain out conventional whatever it might be and replace with synthetic. I’m sure you have some clutch pack problems and if new, might never have them with a synthetic oil. I have a dozer with the same problem……in the shop.

How to use this form

Please fill out your name and email first (website optional). Then give your ratings for this model and year of production. Afterwards, please fill out the 5 fields to give a full review on this model before hitting the "Submit Review" button.